Runaway
by Tinker Ramone
Summary: Jess goes to stop the wedding, but finds the bride already has. Lit. everything including season 7 remains the same.


It was just a few hours until the ceremony when Jess got the news. Before he knew what he was doing he was dressed in a suit and on his way to Stars Hollow. Several times during the drive he had considered turning around. By the time he reached the Connecticut state line he was no longer second-guessing his journey. By the time he pulled into Stars Hollow he had memorized what he was going to say to her, how he was going to do it. If he hadn't already gotten the news, the banners around town were there to remind him. Rory Gilmore, town princess, was getting married. His heart felt heavy as he read her name on every corner. Parking behind the diner he got out and leaned against the car. The sun beamed down on him and he reminded himself he could still turn back. Of course that would be the easy way out. He never liked the easy way out.

"What are you doing here?" his uncle said as he entered the church.

"Was I not invited?" he smirked as the organ blasted over Luke's voice.

"Just sit down and stay quiet." He heard him say as he pushed him down onto the bench beside him. "If you ruin this I will…"

Before he could go on the wedding party began walking down the aisle. He could tell by the colors and the style of the dresses that Rory hadn't picked them out. They were too flashy, too bright. She wouldn't have wanted such flare. Of course one look at the over the top decorations and you could tell Emily Gilmore was behind it. His thoughts were interrupted as Lorelai walked past them, tears streaming down her face. It wasn't quite clear if they were tears of sadness or joy. Although Jess assumed they were a bit of both.

The music paused for a moment before playing the bridal march. When everyone stood to look at the doors, Jess felt the heat rise. A few moments went by and still Rory hadn't appeared in the doorway. Suddenly there was a look of panic on everyone's faces. Lorelai looked at the groom who in return stared back at the open door. Instead of Rory, Chris came running down the aisle, grabbing Lorelai and whispering something in her ear. Something that by the looks of it, wasn't good.

"Poor Logan." He heard some one whisper.

Jess felt his uncle's eyes burning into him, so he turned to look at him. It was obvious he thought he had something to do with the missing bride. With a shrug Jess turned back to the front and watched as Emily stood in front of everyone tearfully explaining that her granddaughter was missing.

"Where is she?" Luke said as he placed a hand on Jess's shoulder.

"How would I know?"

"You show up unexpectedly and now the bride is missing."

"I know this looks bad knowing my record and all, but I haven't seen her," he laughed. "If I knew where she was, would I be sitting here?"

His uncle looked him over for a moment, then directed his attention on the others. Luke slowly moved through the crowd of chaos to get to Lorelai. She was crying and franticly talking to Sookie when both Luke and Jess appeared.

"What is he doing here?" she said quickly replacing her upset tone for a defensive one.

"Am I not suppose to be here?" he snapped. "My friend was getting married."

"You weren't invited."

"Hey, just calm down he was just as shocked as everyone else." Luke said bringing his girlfriend in for a hug. "How's Logan?'

"How does he look?" she laughed. "His bride just walked out on him."

As the crowded church became filled with chatter, Logan briskly walked out. Pushing everyone away who tried to stop him. Watching the man leave so quickly made Jess feel a bit sorry for him. Although it wasn't clear if he was embarrassed or sincerely upset his bride was gone.

"I have to do damage control." Lorelai explained as she kissed Luke's cheek. "I just don't get it. She was fine…I mean a bit nervous. But every girl is nervous on her wedding day."

"Maybe you should call her."

"Her purse and everything is still in the room." She explained. "Chris said when he knocked the door came open and she was gone."

"So let me get this straight." Jess smirked. "Rory is running around town in a wedding dress and no one can find her?"

"Well everyone's here." Luke snapped. "She couldn't have gone far though."

"I'm sure she's fine, she after all is not here to do damage control." Lorelai laughed. "She is missing out on the wrath of not only my mother, but Logan's mother."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Luke asked.

"Just hold me up while I talk to the elegant mob." She said leaning into him. "Oh and maybe get me a glass of champagne."

Jess wasn't sure what the procedure was for a run away bride, but he was certain no one was going to find her standing around in the place she ran from. As he watched his uncle and Lorelai's interaction he felt a bit envious. After all they had been through together, they were still deeply in love. As Lorelai gulped down a few glasses of champagne, he decided to make his escape.

"Where are you going?"

"Well I figure this would be the best time to see the sites of Stars Hollow. All of the towns people are here."

"Don't leave town until she is found." Luke said as he stared at his nephew.

"Right." He nodded as he walked out the door.

He wasn't sure why, but as he listened to the chatter of the guests he didn't blame her for running. He was pretty sure she didn't know half of the people there. No it was possible she only knew half of that half. Walking past the buzzing people he observed Logan and his friends talking. The angry look on the man's face was a bit amusing, but not as amusing as his words.

"Lets go to Vegas." He shouted as he lifted a beer into the sky.

"Logan, shouldn't we stick around incase she comes back." a man with an accent said.

"I am not going back in there." He pointed at the church. "My parents will soon get tired of yelling at the Gilmore's and you know what that means."

"So Vegas it is." Another man said.

His legs took him to her childhood home. He didn't know why, but as he stepped forward he saw her sitting on a cloud of tulle her feet hanging off of the porch swing. It was a bit funny that she was hiding out in the open and no one had found her. Not that they were looking, no there was too much damage control to be done. They didn't have the time to look for the bride.

"I heard there was a wedding down the street looking for a bride." He smirked as he approached her. "You'd be perfect for the part."

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same." He laughed sitting next to her on the swing.

"I just couldn't do it." She said wiping the tears from her face. "I mean look at this dress, it costs more than it did to put me through Yale."

"It looks good on you." He smiled and awkwardly looked away. "Your mom is worried."

"She'll figure it out."

"Your grandmother is about to have a heart attack yelling at the groom's family."

"What's new?" she laughed. "Am I a bad person?"

"Nah." He said waving his hand at her. "I'm a bad person."

"You?" she snapped her head up and stared at him. "Why you?"

"I came here to ruin your wedding." He laughed. "Although you beat me to the punch."

"I guess I did." She smiled faintly and sniffled a bit. "Why were you going to ruin my wedding?"

"Why not?" he smirked. "My mom told me this morning and I just jumped in my car."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Jess pulled a book from his jacket pocket. Rory smiled a bit and leaned her head on his shoulder. It was almost perfect, Rory sitting there beside him on the porch swing, the wind blowing through her hair. Of course it was only perfect if you didn't count the fact that she was a runaway bride.

"When I'm upset, I read."

"You still do that reading thing?" she laughed.

"Just a bit." He smirked back. "Would you like me to read to you?"

Rory nodded her head and began to curl up beside him, placing her head in his lap. With an awkward hand Jess brushed her hair away from her face. Then he began to read. His voice was lulling even to himself. After a few pages he placed the book down and stared down at her, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hemmingway." She smiled. "It always puts me to sleep."

"Rory." He said in a voice a bit to serious for even his liking.

"Jess?" she teased.

"Do you love him?"

She paused and sat up before answering. "I did."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure." She shrugged. "I didn't think that far ahead."

"You always think ahead."

"That was true until about forty-five minutes ago." She laughed as she stood up. "I'm going in to change."

"Do you want me to…"

"Stay." She nodded as she walked inside.

He had honestly never been in a more uncomfortable situation. When she emerged from the house she was wearing jeans and a blue shirt. There was no trace of make up on her face and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. If he hadn't seen her in the dress just moments before, he wouldn't have known she just ran from her wedding.

"So now what?" he asked as she stood in front of him.

"I need my purse." She sighed. "Its back at the church."

"Then what?"

"Do you have a car?" she asked with an eager smile.

"I do." He nodded. "So you want me to kidnap you?"

"Who's to say I'm not kidnapping you?"

"So you need me to sneak into the church and get your purse?" he said with a cocked eyebrow.

"Please." She said in a tiny voice.

Jess found himself standing in the church looking for the bridal room. The mission was harder than expected. Everywhere he looked there were angry people gathering decorations or food. When he finally found the room he rushed towards the door only to be stopped by Lorelai's hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought I'd help you take your things back to your house. Rory's purse and clothes. Your clothes." He nervously said as she gripped his arm and pulled him into the room. "Jeez, do you treat all your guests this way."

"Where is she?"

"Look I just wanted to help…"

"No, don't tell me." She said as she gathered Rory's things and piled it into his arms. "Just take her stuff and tell her to call me."

Jess nodded at Lorelai and headed out the door. When he reached the door he could hear Emily yelling at her. Her high-pitched screams echoing out the door of the church. What was left of the crowd ignored her. They were obviously immune to it.

"Jess." He heard his uncle say as he made his get away.

"What?" he snapped as he turned towards him.

"Make sure she calls her mother."

Jess once again nodded his head at the request. Then he walked swiftly to his car dumping her things into the back. Pulling into the driveway he found her sitting on the steps reading a book. Tiny strands of her hair escaping from her ponytail, the wind blowing them wildly.

"You did it." She beamed as she entered the car.

"You need to call your mom."

"You told her." She snapped.

"Of course not, she just knew."

Rory nodded her head understanding what he meant. As Jess pulled out on to the road, he began to realize they had no destination. Turning towards her he stopped the car and as if reading his mind she answered.

"Anywhere but Connecticut." She said slightly above a whisper. "I could really go for a coffee and a book right now."

"I know this great place in Philly, with a patio."

"Take me." She smiled.

"As you wish." He said driving away from her mother's house.

During the drive she blasted Sonic Youth and stuck her head out the window to sing. It was as if she had never done anything spontaneous her whole life. As they passed the Connecticut state line she began to relax and fall asleep. Her face pressed against the window she began to lightly snore. He wasn't sure when this adventure would end, but he was ready for the ride.


End file.
